No days off. No goofing around, no resting on any laurels gathered from this eight-wins-in- nine-games stretch.

It was back to the fundamentals, a defence-centred practice on Thursday ahead of Friday's meeting with the suddenly decent Sacramento Kings.

Though the Raptors were brimming with confidence following Wednesday’s win over Portland, Casey insists he’s making sure all of this winning isn’t going to his young team’s head.

“I’m not letting them, believe me. That’s why today was a defensive day. We did a bunch of basic drills,” Casey explained.

“I’m not relaxed, we’re not out of the hole yet and we’ve got to continue to play like a desperate team. It starts with ourselves as a coaching staff and not believing the hype because you know as well as I do, this is a cyclical league and if you relax and let your guard down for one iota, it will turn around and kick you in the butt.”

No kidding. Just a few weeks ago things were quite different. Wins were rarities, calls for heads to roll grew increasingly louder and any talk of making the playoffs was considered pure fantasy.

Now, this group is humming along on offence like few other teams — which makes putting the practice focus on defence all the more understandable — and the East’s playoff hangers-on are well within sight.

Excellence at the point, effective play from at least two swingmen every night and consistent, understated efforts from Amir Johnson and Ed Davis have driven this season-saving streak.

“It takes a while to find that right combination, especially when it’s pretty much a new team. It took us a long time, we had a lot of games on the road early. It definitely hurt us early, but I think we’ve found a rhythm,” said Kyle Lowry.

“We’re just having fun sharing the ball,” added Johnson, who then joked that if the players can get away with plays like his infamous double dribble from the other night, it would be all the better.

Terrence Ross’ recent standout games have caught the attention of everybody in Raptorland.

Casey said he has given Ross the OK to keep shooting, to an extent. The coach knows Ross will have to adjust his game as the rest of the league picks up on his capabilities.

“The main thing he had to learn was the speed of the NBA game,” Casey said of Ross, who has hit 44.4% of his three-point attempts over the past 10 games.

“He has the green light but what he has to do now, teams will play him aggressively. Teams aren’t going to just let you (get your shot) off freely like you’re in the park.

“He’s going to have to learn how to attack. That will come with time.”

According to Casey, going up against DeRozan every day in practice has helped Ross pick up the nuances of the game from the veteran.

“(DeMar) and Terrence go at each other every day in practice. DeMar’s experience right now gets him ... He understands how he can get the young kid, but young fella can shoot it. DeMar is just more polished right now and knows how to play the game within the game and that’s what Terrence is learning,” Casey said.

DeRozan has taken his game to a new level this season and Casey again attributes a lot of that success to experience.

“Before he had to get up a lot of shots to get his points. This year, he’s more efficient in understanding shot selection, draw and kicks, getting to the rim versus taking a jump shot, not just going in and flinging up something hoping to get a foul and not getting it and getting frustrated,” Casey said.

To stop the Kings, the Raptors likely will have to find an answer for DeMarcus Cousins, something the rest of the league has not been able to do of late.

Cousins has averaged 16.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in four games since returning from a two-game, team-imposed suspension.

Cousins compiled 25 points and 13 rebounds against the Raptors in Sacramento’s earlier win and almost pulled off a 20-20 game (21 points, 19 rebounds) a year ago at the ACC.

“I think he’s kind of like (LaMarcus) Aldridge just with a little (more) strength,” Johnson said of Cousins.

“We have to play him head up ... we’ll just have to play him hard. It’s going to be a tough matchup.”

SOMETIMES SELFISH BEATS SHARING

Dwane Casey loved the season-high 34 assists his team managed against Portland on Wednesday. But he’d be OK with slightly less of those helpers coming from his floor generals.

Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowry combined for 22 of those assists without tallying a single point.

“We’re going to need those guys to score. We need those guys to be threats,” Casey said after practice on Thursday.

“We’re going to need those guys to pick their spots, because it opens things up for everyone else when they’re aggressive.”

Both Calderon and Lowry said they were just taking what the Blazers gave them.

“Me and Jose we didn’t have to be aggressive offensively, we set our teammates off well,” Lowry explained.

“I’m a team player so it doesn’t matter what I do offensively, it’s about wins and losses.”

Point guard excellence is a fine line, but Casey is looking for Lowry, especially, to be a tad more selfish than he has been since returning from injury.

“Whether it’s shooting too much or passing too much, it’s got to be a balance. We need he and Jose to be aggressive offensively, but yet still get everybody else involved,” Casey said.

“We can’t have a heavy dose of one-on-one play, we’ve got to execute. That’s where Kyle has understood what we’re trying to do. He has done an excellent job of getting us into the sets, executing the sets, and that’s helped us get into a rhythm. Whereas if you’re coming down with a quick shot, nobody’s organized, it’s hard for us to play that way.”

All business all the time for head coach's crew

No days off. No goofing around, no resting on any laurels gathered from this eight-wins-in- nine-games stretch.

It was back to the fundamentals, a defence-centred practice on Thursday ahead of Friday's meeting with the suddenly decent Sacramento Kings.

Though the Raptors were brimming with confidence following Wednesday’s win over Portland, Casey insists he’s making sure all of this winning isn’t going to his young team’s head.

“I’m not letting them, believe me. That’s why today was a defensive day. We did a bunch of basic drills,” Casey explained.

“I’m not relaxed, we’re not out of the hole yet and we’ve got to continue to play like a desperate team. It starts with ourselves as a coaching staff and not believing the hype because you know as well as I do, this is a cyclical league and if you relax and let your guard down for one iota, it will turn around and kick you in the butt.”